The Path of the Shinigami
by Nathan Hale
Summary: When Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime die in a car crash, Rukia sends them to Soul Society to become Shinigami. Graduating early, Ichigo is given a mission in the real world that rocks Soul Society and leaves him in a difficult position.
1. Chapter 1: The Death of Three

Continuation of Bleach

After the events at Hueco Mundo and Las Noches

(My version, seeing as those events haven't finished being written yet)

The threat to the real world is over. Everyone that had been part of Aizen's Rebellion except for Aizen himself was either dead or inside a prison in Soul Society. Having no more followers, Aizen can do nothing. And that is why Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Rukia were on their way to a rock concert in the real world, enjoying themselves after having so much trouble.

"What band are we seeing again?" Orihime asked. Ichigo rolled his eyes. This is the fifth time she asked that.

"High and Mighty Color, Inoue." Chad, because he was driving, was even quieter than normal. Rukia was scrutinizing the area outside of her window.

"What's so interesting out there?" Ichigo said roughly. Rukia looked at him briefly and then went back to the window.

"I've never seen any other part of the real world other than Karakura town. I want to know what else is out there."

"Rukia, it's rocks and highway out there. A tree or two here or there. The view sucks."

"Well, I don't know..." Orihime began.

"Please don't," Chad said before she could get any farther into her strange logic. "Traffic's heavy around here."

"We could get there faster if we just ran in Shinigami form. That bastard Ulquiorra... Damn, I miss my shinigami powers. No reason I lost them though. that cero followed by his zanpakuto hurt like a bitch. If I just go to Soul Society I can get them back, but the way I am now... Damn, I miss shunpo."  
Ichigo was in a foul mood. Hopefully the concert would cheer him up.  
Hopefully.  
Suddenly, the scream of a Hollow could be heard. It ripped the sky open and jumped down, causing the car in front of Chad's to swerve and turn perpendicular to them. Chad broadsided the car at seventy miles per hour. For some strange reason, the airbags didn't deploy. Chad, Inoue, and Ichigo were instantly separated from their real bodies and Rukia was in Shinigami form.

"An Adjuchas?!" Ichigo shouted. "Rukia!"  
Before they knew what was happening, the Adjuchas stepped on the three soul's chains and separated them from their real bodies. "Shit!" Ichigo said whole-heartedly. "I can't do anything in this form, Rukia. You're gonna have to kill it. Sado and Inoue are down." Rukia was quick and she killed it without releasing her zanpakuto, but the damage had been done. The only way ichigo could get back into his real body was to become a shinigami. To become a Shinigami he had to go to Soul Society. Quickly, too, because the hollow inside him accelerates the rate at which he would become a hollow.

"Ichigo-" Rukia began.

"I know, Rukia. Chad and Inoue too. They can't go back."

"I'll tell your father."

"There's no need. I know what dad is. He probably knows already." Ichigo said with a grin. Rukia nodded and performed soul burials on Chad and Orihime.

"I'll see you in Soul Society." She sent him off with a sad face. This trip to Soul Society is different, he thought. He was being forced and not running through a gate like normal. He could feel the wind tearing at him with incredible speed as he passed through a spectral passageway to the afterlife. Soon, he emerged in District 1 of Rukongai.

"Must be district one," Ichigo said to himself. "Buildings are huge, streets are clean, people have poles up their asses. Definitely in District 1." He could already feel the flow of spirit particles back into his body. He smiled to himself, then thought, "Where's Chad and Inoue?"

After a week, Ichigo was gaining back his ability to sense reiatsu, however bad he was at that. He waited a few more days before tracing the reiatsu of Chad, who seemed to be nearer than Orihime. He traveled from district to district before coming up on District 10, where he felt a sharp increase in Sado's reiatsu scent. He went running around looking and yelling, "Chad, it's Kurosaki!" before stumbling upon him inside a house with complete strangers.

"Hello, Kurosaki." Chad said. He looked around the room before stepping outside with Ichigo to talk to him. "How did we die?" Chad asked simply.

"Adjuchas caused our car to crash. I can feel my power coming back. But before I focus on regaining my powers, I would like to-"

"Look for Inoue?

"Yeah."

A couple days after finding Chad, they set out to find Orihime. They found her in District 53. After a happy and tearful reunion, at least for one of them, they found an unoccupied building and started setting up camp there. It was hard living. Food was scarce, and the district was full of crime. Thankfully, they only spent a short amount of time living there. After about three weeks in Rukongai, Rukia found them. There wasn't much to say in between them other than the one idea that Rukia had and that the other had been thinking about.

"You should all join the academy. Inoue and Sado both have high reiatsu, and it would be a good way to brush up your skills and pass the time until you get your powers back. You'll also learn Kidou." Ichigo had been planning to do this ever since he lost his powers. Both Chad and Orihime thought it was a good idea as well. Rukia escorted them to the Academy and it was there she bid her farewell for the time being. Immediately, they all filled out applications and handed them in. The Shinigami in charge of taking the applications raised an eyebrow at their names.

"You're the ryoka that-"

"Cut the crap, dude. You gonna let us in?" Ichigo demanded. The shinigami put down their applications and gestured them into the facility. There they were separated and put into classes, then given white and blue/red kimonos for a uniform. The classes started and roll call began. The teacher went through several names before coming upon Kurosaki Ichigo.

He cleared his throught and said quietly, "Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"Yo." Ichigo said. Heads turned and stared at him. "What?" he said. "Continue."

It took two weeks before they actually did anything in the Academy. In that time Ichigo regained his zanpakuto in katana form and he decided not to try and release it quite yet because he didn't have enough power. Finally, they started using kidou. Ichigo was horrible with binding kidou but decent with Ways of Destruction. About three days after starting kidou, they started swordfighting. They were given wooden katanas and were instructed upon how to swing them the right way and how to block and such. At the end of the day, everyone in the class had a chance to spar against the instructor.

"Have at me!" the instructor told Kurosaki. Ichigo laughed and landed two easy hits on the torso.

"You're a great intructor, but you suck at real fighting." Ichigo said tactlessly. The intructor went red in the face and called up the next opponent.

Over the next couple months, Ichigo regained his shunpo and felt that he could now release Zangetsu. But he didn't. Not yet. Ichigo was now getting used to kidou and he was getting to be pretty good at it. His Way of Binding Kidou was now decent and Destruction was getting to be very good.

What usually took students two years took him two months while regaining his powers. He moved up from higher class to higher class. He kept on getting better at kidou, to be a little below Hinamori with Ways of Destruction, and his swordsmanship was unsurpassed, except for Kenpachi and the high commander Yamamoto, who were equal. His classes now included shunpo and he increased the speed and distance he could go in a single step.  
In a mere nine months, Ichigo passed the Shinigami Academy. That was faster than Ichimaru Gin, who had graduated in one year. The teacher had one more lesson to give to his students before they graduated.

"Students. Your zanpakuto is not just a katana. It is a living being, like you and I. If you learn its name, then your sword will manifest itself in a different way that is closer to its real form. This is called shikai. I will call someone special in for you to demonstrate this. He is a captain of one of the squads of the Gotei 13 and has been a captain for a very long time. Please welcome the captain of the 11th Squad, Zaraki Kenpachi."

Kenpachi walked in. Immediately all the people in the classroom cringed at his powerful reiatsu. With a big grin, Kenpachi drew his sword and said, "Bare your teeth, Baito Ookami." The sword changed form into a serrated double-helix sword thats size outdid zangetsu when it is released. It looked extremely powerful, and dangerous to whoever was insane enough to fight him.

"All zanpakuto are unique, and mine is no exception. Besides being large, heavy, and sharp, it also has the ability to "bite" and "eat" reiatsu. When it slices, I can make it take some of the reiatsu and absorb it, making the blade sharper and more powerful."

Ichigo grinned. "Finally got that down, did ya?" He yelled out. Kenpachi saw him in the back of the room and laughed.

"What're you doing here, Kurosaki?" he said.

"I died in the real world."

Kenpachi smiled and said, "Then there's nothing to keep your mind occupied while you fight me because you don't have to go back." Kenpachi performed a shunpo to get close to Ichigo, and they left the building together using shunpo.

"I can defeat you without releasing Baito Ookami," Kenpachi said confidently. "And I'll have the time of my life doing it."

Ichigo sighed and said, "Then I guess I'm going to have to fight you without releasing Zangetsu."

"I thought your zanpakuto was too powerful to be sealed, Kurosaki."

"I just got him back after regaining my powers. Ironic, isn't it, that first we save Rukia because she lost her powers and all of a sudden, our positions are reversed. Anyway, I want to try Zangetsu out without releasing it, because once I release it, it won't be able to go back," Ichigo explained. "We can't fight right now, either. I will fight you when the time comes."

"When the time comes? What kind of statement is that? It's so lame."  
Ichigo stepped back into the classroom with shunpo and then he sat back down. He felt fifty pairs of eyes burning into him and he frowned.

"What, do you all wish you had orange hair?" Ichigo barked out. The class looked back at the teacher and he sighed.

"I will be assigning you to squads now. Those who are skilled at fighting will go to the eleventh squad. Those gifted in healing and are not very good at fighting will be going to the fourth squad. Those with sharp minds will go to the twelfth squad. No one will be admitted to the second squad. All the other squads are for those who are proficient at all skills. "  
The teacher then proceeded to hand out forms that told the new Shinigami what squad they were assigned to, their captain, and all the seated officers. Ichigo rolled his eyes when he saw what squad he was assigned to.

"Ack. Eleventh squad. Guess it can't be helped, because I'm good at fighting. But Kenpachi... whoo boy, this'll be tough. He'll want to fight all the time," Ichigo was telling another classmate that had been assigned to the eleventh squad. He was nodding madly as Ichigo talked to him.

No one was of note in the academy other than himself. He longed to talk to Chad and Orihime more. When they had breaks they met up, but it would be another four years before they graduated from the academy. As Ichigo was walking aorund Sereiti, he saw familiar faces. Once, he saw Ikkaku walking by and he stopped him.

"Yo, Ikkaku. You know I'm part of your squad now, right?" Ikkaku scowled.

"Kurosaki, you're gonna take my place at third seat. You bastard," Ikkaku said harshly.

"Do you want to fight over it?" Ichigo chided. He barely had time to block the punch headed towards his face.

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I do!" Ikkaku said. Ichigo rolled his eyes and pulled out Zangetsu in katana form. He could easily defend Ikkaku's slashes, but he thought that he was being put into a false sense of security.  
He was right. Ikkaku soon released his zanpakuto and began attacking with quick, strong attacks. Ichigo still could block all of his blows, but Zangestu was taking strain from repeated hits. Ichigo hacked and slashed madly to turn the battle into an offensive one. He landed a coulple scratches here and there on Ikkaku's arms and midsection, but nothing serious. He could tell that Ikkaku was getting angrier at not being able to touch Ichigo using Shikai while Ichigo was still in katana form. After landing a deep gash in Ikkaku's arm, Ikkaku broke.

"I hate it! When did you get so good? I am the third seat! You have no right to take my place!" Ikkaku ranted.

"Ikkaku! You're not being yourself! Don't get so angry over a seat position! You're still strong!" Ichigo pleaded. Ikkaku calmed down a little, then smiled.

"Then at least I will make it interesting." He jumped back and started running. "To thirteenth division training grounds, Kurosaki," he called behind his shoulder. Ichigo used shunpo to get in front of Ikkaku and he ran all the way to the grounds. Ikkaku landed soon after, and then yelled out, "BANKAI!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He knew that Ikkaku had achieved bankai, but he had never seen it befoe. He saw now the huge blades and red dragon that is Ikkaku's Zanpakuto's true form. Ichigo grinned, and did not release Zangetsu. As Ikkaku charged at him, he just used shunpo to dodge it and slice him slightly on the arms. Soon, Ikkaku found Ichigo's pattern and he began to counterattack Ichigo's evade and counter tactics. Ichigo knew that if he blocked a hit from the destructive power of Ikkaku's bankai, his katana Zangetsu would shatter and he would be forced to release it. Ichigo was trying to make a point by keeping Zangetsu sealed.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Ikkaku screamed as he charged at Ichigo. "You're done, Kurosaki!" Ichigo vanished from sight as he used shunpo to appear behind Ikkaku.

"If I were to kill you, I would do it now. You are angry and are leaving yourself open to attack from behind. I would have beheaded you, quick and efficient. Ikkaku, I don't know what seat I'm going to be even if I have a seat. That was reckless of you to act off a hunch."  
Ikkaku grinned wildly and sealed away his zanpakuto.

"I needed a reason to fight you, Kurosaki. It's too much damn fun."

Ichigo hung his head in shame and said under his breath, "I take that back. That wasn't reckless of you, it was typical of you." They walked away from the field peacefully, but were cut off by Kenpachi.

"Damn. Looked like you two enjoyed it. You should fight me sometime."

"NO, dammit. How many times to I have to tell you, Kenpachi? I will fight you when the time comes." Ichigo barked out. Kenpachi grinned as Ichigo and Ikkaku walked past him and back into the populated area of Soul Society. Shortly thereafter, they say Yachiru running towards them at full speed.

"Ichi! Have you seen Ken-Chan? What about Maki Maki? Or Big Boobies? or-" She was cut off by a stiffarm to the face from Ichigo, as he often did to Keigo at school.

"Kenpachi's over there. Orihime's in the dorm, I believe. And... uh... Maki... Maki Maki. I forget who he is."

"Oww, Ichi. That hurt. Oh, right, Maki Maki. Mustache!" she said excitedly. Ichigo's face changed in comprehension and then he shook his head.

"I don't know where he is," he said. Yachiru shrugged and moved on. Ichigo wandered around Sereitei, wondering who he might meet around. He met a familiar captain's face while he was on his way to Kenpachi's office.

"Hey, Byakuya," Ichigo said as he walked up to him. Byakuya sighed.

"Don't call me by my first name. Call me captain Kuchiki."

"Sure thing, Byakuya. You seen Renji or Rukia around?"

"I believe that they are spending their time off together."

"Oh yeah, and Byakuya, I never properly thanked you for saving Rukia and me in Hueco Mundo. I'm really grateful you guys came. There was a good chance that Nnoitra would have killed me if you guys did't get there."

"I didn't save you from Nnoitra. Thank Captain Zaraki if you want to express gratitude."

"You saved Rukia, though. For that, I am more grateful than for my own life."

"Why do you care so much for Rukia?" Byakuya asked.

"Someone say my name?" a rough voice grumbled from behind them. There stood Kenpachi.

"Oops, sorry Kenpachi. I was lost in conversation so I didn't pay attention to reiatsus. Listen, I have something to tell you-"

"Shut yer trap and leave it for later. I'm making you my third seat officer," Kenpachi said then started walking away. Ichigo hung his head and prayed under his breath that Ikkaku didn't freak out for real.  
He did.

Zaraki always took a lot of time out of his day trying to get Ichigo to fight him, but to no avail. He did train several hours a day just to relieve his boredom. He wanted to become a captain of the Gotei 13, but Yamamoto had filled in all the spots. He wanted to oversee the education of Chad and Orihime, but he didn't have the qualifications for a teacher in the academy, so he wasn't allowed to do that.

He had done nothing very intereseting for about two years. In about a week, the anniverserary of his "death" was coming. He longed to talk to Karin and Yuzu, along with his father. He didn't know if Yuzu could see Shinigami, but Karin and his father could. Ichigo wished that something would happen, anything- even Aizen coming back would be something. The chances of that were slim, though. Working together, Mayuri and Urahara had put the Hougyoku in the safest place they could make, which included several hundred feet of Sekki Stone along with a whole unit of the second division to guard it. It was also in deep sleep once again. It was unlikely Aizen had the manpower to even launch an attack on the vault.

He hadn't seen Rukia much- she was busy in the Thirteenth Division, moving up into a seated position. Ichigo himself had often had to do at least some paperwork seeing that Kenpachi and Yachiru didn't have the attention span to finish them. Ichigo wished for something to do.  
He got his wish later in the week. When walking to his training ground one evening, Ukitake crossed paths with him and told Ichigo that Zaraki was looking for him. Ichigo sprinted to Kenpachi's office because Kenpachi hated his subordinates being late, and that would give him more of a reason to fight Kurosaki.

"Kurosaki. I'm giving you a patrol in the real world. This is a hollow-killing, soul-burying patrol. Nothing more. Yachiru will be going with you." Kenpachi explained. At her name, Yachiru appeared from behind Zaraki and jumped from his shoulder onto Ichigo's.

"Ichi, no worries! I'm going with you!"

"Let him have a few indulgences, Yachiru. But don't let him get too much off task," Zaraki said with his strange smile.

They headed off the next day, using the official gate this time, seeing that Ichigo could now control Hell Butterflies. It was peaceful in the real world when they got there.

"You gonna stay at Sandal-Hat's?" Yachiru asked.

"No. I know someone else who would be more hopitable," Ichigo said with a sad smile. He set off to his house and entered his room from his window. He saw now that this was Karin's room, but not much had changed. He guessed it was for the sentimentalities. Yachiru followed shortly behind him.  
He opened the door and climbed down the stairs. It seemed that no one was home.

He turned around to go back upstairs when his father yelled out, "HELLO, ICHIGO!" and performed a flying kick at Ichigo's face. He blocked it and yelled back at him, "Damnit, Dad, you still do that to me even when I'm dead? That's just cruel." His father laughed and then seeing Yachiru, looked at Ichigo. "Yeah, she's out on assignment with me. Killing hollows and saving souls, that old thing," Ichigo explained.

While they were talking, Yachiru bursted out into hysterical laughter. The Kurosakis looked at her as she bursted out between giggles, "You're Kurosaki Isshin? You act like a retard!"

Ichigo turned on her, saying, "Why you little-"

Isshin cut him off. "Leave her alone. I've been acting this way for so long it's hard not to do it. Karin and Yuzu are sleeping at a friend's house. You can stay here tonight and talk to them tomorrow. You probably want some food."

They ate and talked. Isshin told him that Karin and Yuzu were lonely without him, and that Yuzu was beginning to be able to see Shinigami. Karin already knew several Shinigami from the battle over Karakura town. Karin knew that Ichigo could come back. Yuzu didn't, but she would accept it. Because they were talking about people she didn't know, Yachiru felt left out and she went outside to sulk.  
Ishida had felt Kurosaki's reiatsu and was already on his way to the Kurosaki clinic. Yachiru saw him and pelted him with greetings and nicknames on his way inside. Upon seeing Uryuu, Ichigo got up and gave him a bear hug. Ishida was freaked out.

"Never thought I'd be happy to see you, Ishida," Ichigo said.

Ishida hung his said and said under his breath, "That's a really bad cliche..." Then, louder, he said, "I figured that you would have to come back sometime. There was no way you couldn't become an official shinigami. Being official would mean that you would have patrols in the real world."  
Ichigo sat back down and gestured towards the food. Ishida sat down and only asked for a drink.

After taking a sip, he said to Ichigo, "I missed your company. Along with Inoue and Sado. Tatsuki was especially sad that Orihime isn't with the living anymore. Keigo as well."

Ichigo looked down into his drink and thought about everyone he had to leave behind after the Adjuchas' attack. "Ishida. I'm going to have to ask you not to interfere with the hollows while I am in karakura town. It isn't good for the balance of souls. If you do, I won't be happy. You don't want to experience that."

Ishida looked at Ichigo. "Well, I haven't had to deal with the hollows since you died because of a certain someone."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Kon," Isshin answered.

"Oh, God." Ichigo said while closing his eyes.  
Just then, Yachiru's voice cut into the conversation.

"Ichi! Hollow! Come on!" Ichigo got up and said quickly before leaving, "I think I'll get to see him soon."

Really sorry about gramatical errors! I am usually pretty good with grammar and spelling, but since WordPad is the only program I have that is compatible with Fanfiction, it got all screwed up when it transferred and I didn't feel like fixing it. I only transferred the one file and kept on "editing" it to write the next chapters. So that is another reason why I didn't fix it. Sorry about the rambling apology, but oh well, I had to say it.


	2. Chapter 2: The Lorde of Death

Ichigo heard the Hollow before he saw it. It was a regular minus. He saw Kon in a gigai there equipped with a spirit sword. It wasn't a zanpakuto. Ichigo passed it off as one of Urahara's inventions. The hollow was no longer there.

"Kon!" Ichigo called out. Kon turned his head as Ichigo vanquished the hollow.

"Ichigo!" Kon responded. "I thought that you had lost your powers! Did you bring Nii-Chan with you?" Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"No, Kon. Listen, do you-" he stopped, feeling a familiar reiatsu. He looked upwards. There he saw the Vaizards: Hirako, Love, Lisa, Kensei, and Hiyori.

"Hey you guys. Are you here to train my endurance?" Ichigo asked. Hirako descended to the ground.

"No. We heard that you held out your mask for much longer against Aizen and the Espada. I heard it was about five hours you could hold it?" Ichigo nodded. "Well, anyway," Hirako continued, "We came here to congratulate you on regaining your powers. We also-"

They were cut off by a tremendous reiatsu. The reiatsu was more powerful than Kenpachi. It was bearable to all present, but then, a second reiatsu joined the first, just as powerful. The pressure of their reiatsu was extreme. A third reiatsu joined them. Lisa had to put on her mask just to keep her from losing her ability to move. Ichigo found it harder to breathe, and poor Yachiru was on the ground, immobilized. The sky ripped open and three hollows entered the real world from Hueco Mundo.

Vasto Lorde.

Their power was overpowering, their voices like thunder as they spoke, "KUROSAKI ICHIGO. IN THE NAME OF AIZEN SOUSUKE WE COME HERE TO CRUSH YOU AND YOUR VAIZARD ACCOMPLICES. YOU WILL NOT PREVAIL."

Ichigo had shivers going up and down his spine. He released Zangetsu immediately and entered bankai. All of the Vaizards including Ichigo had their masks on. The Vasto Lordes appeared in front of the group of people in the sky and on the ground. They began battle immediately.

Their reiatsus were incredible. Their movements were fster than shunpo and their blows were as strong as Getsuga Tenshou. Ichigo was on the defensive side of the battle for his life, and the Vaizards were not faring any better than Ichigo.

After about twenty minutes of battle, reinforcements came from Soul Society in the form of Hitsuguya, Shunsui, and Byakuya. They all fought as well as they could, but the Vasto Lordes pushed them back, making the battle a defensive one even with reinforcements. They could stop Senbonzakura Kagenui as well as Hyouinmaru's bankai and Shunsui's. The Vaizards were taking heavy injuries and could not hold out for much longer.

Even after the limits were released, the Vasto Lordes could not be stopped. Additional reinforcements came, and they were finally able to force the Lordes back. The Lordes didn't take any hits, but they knew that if they stayed there, they would be killed.

As Kenpachi came through the gateway into the real world, the Vasto Lordes were withdrawing. They ripped open the sky and they started stepping back when one of them doubled back and slashed at Yachiru, who was still immobilized by the reiatsu. Ichigo was sure that Yachiru was mortally wounded, as the Lorde's claws had cut through most of her internal organs. Her lungs were filling with blood and her stomach was in two, and part of her heart had been cut.

Kenpachi's fury was unfathomable. At the same time, he released his zanpakuto and ripped off his eye patch, and he came at the Lorde. It was too late; the Vasto Lordes were safely back in Hueco Mundo. Kenpachi turned his rage towards Ichigo.

"You didn't save her!" he screamed, and he struck out with Baito Ookami. Ichigo still had his mask and Tensa Zangetsu on his person but the attack was still extremely heavy for him to block. Kenpachi charged at him relentlessly and he hacked and slashed and bellowed and howled over Yachiru's dead body.

Toushiro was on his cell phone, communicating with Soul Society.

"Get Unohana down here NOW! Medical emergency! Send Kidou troops as well. Kenpachi is unstable." He could only watch as Kenpachi took out all of his anger and grief on Ichigo. Even though Ichigo didn't want to hurt Kenpachi, it was possible that the only way he would be able to survive the battle and the life afterwards is to kill Kenpachi. He would have anger towards him for a long time and he would pick a fight with Ichigo every chance he could get.

When the Kidou corps arrived, the tried to bind Kenpachi, but kenpachi's combined strength and reiatsu stopped them from being able to. Ichigo really didn't want to kill him, but his time was getting short with his mask. He started letting loose Getsuga Tenshous against Kenpachi but he was able to block them with his zanpakuto. Ichigo drew out all his strength and delivered them as fast as he could, letting about six loose in five seconds. He was able to stop Kenpachi's attack, and so Ichigo used this momentary gap to turn the battle to his favor. He kept him going backwards, going as fast as he could. He was at his limits. He had only about twenty minutes left of hollow mask and Kenpachi was still enraged.

Ichigo had to kill him- or else he would be killed. Zaraki couldn't be stopped with words, kidou, or reason, and he was as bloodthirsty as he would ever be. Ichigo was in a dangerous situation. The fight had to end now. Gathering up the rest of his reiatsu, he gave himself a momentary burst of speed, faster than Kenpachi could react to, and he ran him through with Tensa Zangetsu. Zaraki's eyes went wide with shock and he coughed. He then proceeded to punch Ichigo in the face and rip out Tensa Zangetsu. "I will not die that easily!" he called out. He charged at the orange headed teenager and nearly hit him- by a fraction of an inch. He caught the movement of the black bankai coat and turned around to see Ichigo cast Way of Destruction #4: White Lightning right into his stomach.

Again Kenpachi charged at his masked opponent with two gaping holes in his torso. A third was made as he saw a black blade sticking out from his heart. It was in this moment where he realized that what he did was stupid, attacking Kurosaki for something he had no power over.

As his mask fell apart, Ichigo pulled out Zangetsu. The 11th division captain fell backwards onto his back. Time slowed for the dying man as he thought of all the things that he might think in his last moment. The most prominent thought was that he had fulfilled his wish.

He got to fight Kurosaki Ichigo again.

He also fulfilled his other wish of dying in battle against a worthy opponent, for he was going to die. He was ready for it. And wherever Yachiru goes- he swore to himself- he would follow and protect her. He looked up to see a pale, but unmasked, Ichigo kneeling over him with teary eyes.

"Zaraki," he said without a flaw in his voice, "You left me no choice." Ichigo had never seen his scarred face so serene. It lasted only for a second, replaced with a demon smile.

"Kurosaki," his words boomed out, even with his lungs ruptured, "You beat me. That was a great battle." He tuned his head and reached up to his head. He pulled off one of the bells perched upon a spike of his dark hair.

"A reminder that you have beaten the most ferocious, battle-loving, bloodthirsty captain there is. Damn, Kurosaki. The pain feels so good." He dropped the bell into his killer's hand.

He reached up and ruffled spiky, orange hair before pulling his head down and whispering with his last breath, "The pain... is good." Ichigo took the bell and attached it to the end of Tensa Zangetsu's chain. He stood up and promptly performed a faceplant next to the dead captain due to exhaustion. He could vaguely hear the fourth squad shouting orders to other Shinigami as he was turned over by Unohana herself. His vision was blurred, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Sleep off reality. Make it go away. Reality is cruel. Sleep is comforting and kind.  
Sleep...

When Ichigo woke up, he was in Soul Society. Looking around, he saw that he was in 4th squad operating rooms. The bed next to him had a body in it, covered by cloth. Black spikes were poking out from behind the sheets. The bed next to it had a body in it, too- much smaller. The sight of the captain and vice captain, close friends, dead filled Ichigo with nausea. He thought back to what happened. He killed his captain. It was almost like a dream, he thought. A lucid dream. What happens seems real, but you are self-concious.

He almost refused to accept that is was real, but that was impossible seeing as the evidence was right in front of his face. He felt like crying, but he was too tough to cry. Killing Kenpachi had dried up all his tears, turning his heart into an inhospitable desert that soaked up any tears that might be there. He swung his legs out over the edge of the bed. They felt like jelly- boneless and shaky. He guessed that he was just suffering from shock and fear, but he didn't know what he was afraid of.

He soon knew the answer. When every single captain walked into the room along with the supposed fugitives Yoruichi Shihouin and Urahara Kisuke, he knew that something was up.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Yamamoto began.

He walked towards his bed with deliberate steps, making each one sound like his whole life was pounding upon him. "You have killed Zaraki Kenpachi. However, we will not prosecute you because you killed in self defense. But this is not what we came here to talk to you about. What we are here to discuss is the presence of three Vasto Lordes in Karakura town and their motives. Do you know why three Vasto Lorde had decided to attack you and Vice Captain Yachiru?"

Ichigo closed his eyes. He lowered his head and rested it upon his knuckles.

"Aizen," he said simply. The mood of the room instantly changed, but Ichigo didn't care enough to pay attention to what it had changed to.

"The Vasto Lordes said that they were there to kill me in revenge of Aizen. We all know that Aizen was wounded during the showdown, but it was obvious that without attention his wounds would cripple him someday. Apparently, even in a crippled state, he was able to convince at least three Vasto Lordes to follow him."

Yamamoto sighed and did not act suprized at all.

"Aizen Sousuke. We will kill you," he said to no one in particular. He turned towards Ichigo.

"It would now seem that the eleventh division is without a captain, and we do not have the time to wait and perform a captain's test. So we will appoint a new captain with a compacted version. Kurosaki Ichigo, have you obtained Bankai?" he asked suddenly. Ichigo nodded.

"Captain Hitsuguya, do you recommend this person for the position of captain of the eleventh squad?" Toushiro nodded.

"Shunsui, Ukitake, Mayuri, Soi Fon, Byakuya, Komamura, do you concur?" he asked the other captains at the same time. They also either nodded or vocalized their affirmance. Yamamoto again turned towards Ichigo.

"Seeing that you have already defeated the previous eleventh squad captain, you have reached all of our qualifications to become captain."

Ichigo felt sick. He wanted to vomit and then lay down and sleep again. He had wanted to become captain, but not like this. Oh please, God, not like this.

Standing atop Soukyoku hill, Ichigo looked down upon Sereiti and Rukongai. His white Captain's Robe flowed behind him in the lazy breeze. He looked up to the sky and wondered where Kenpachi might be, along with Yachiru. He no longer felt the sadness or nausea that came with the mention of Kenpachi's name. He didn't feel remorse or regret or pain or happiness or grief. He simply felt nothing. He knew that the feelings would come later, that he would be flooded with emotions so strong that even the desert that was now inside of him couldn't soak up all the tears.


	3. Chapter 3: Diversion

All gates to the real world were sealed for the time being. Any Shinigami there would be shut out temporarily until it was made sure that it was safe to open the gates. Urahara and Yoruichi were staying in Soul Society for the time being to provide their support in research and training, and to check up on the Hougyoku. After taking a few days to release all the seals and unlock the locks, the Hougyoku was still there. Kisuke rapped it hard with his cane, and it was solid. The Hougyoku was still safe.

That brought another question into mind. How did Aizen gain control over Vasto Lordes without using the Hougyoku? Even using his complete hypnosis, he couldn't make the most powerful Hollows do whatever he wanted. Kisuke had a theory, which he explained at the next captain's meeting.

"He probably promised them something, like the destruction of all Shinigami, which would mean that they could get whatever souls they wanted. Also, we don't know what his Bankai is like, so it is very possible that his Bankai has some sort of overpowering manipulative ability. Or- while extremely unlikely- he could make another Hougyoku. That would take knowledge that he doesn't possess and time that he knows he doesn't have."

Yamamoto seemed satisfied by this theory and asked Kisuke, "Have you been able to keep the pathway to Hueco Mundo stable, so that six captains may pass through?" Kisuke raised an eyebrow to the number six and answered, "Not six, but at least four can make it there and back. Maybe five." Yamamoto nodded and addressed the rest of the captains. "Captain Kuchiki, Captain Hitsuguya, Captain Mayuri, Captain Kurosaki," he said. "I want you four to enter Hueco Mundo, since you have been there before. Urahara, I want you to work on the number of people we can fit through. At least make room for their vice captains."

Kisuke nodded and disappeared using shunpo. Yamamoto addressed Unohana. "Please send with them your vice captain for emergency healing." Having no more to say, Yamamoto lifted up his staff and struck it on the floor. "This meeting is adjourned. Captain Kurosaki, please stay here for a moment." Ichigo walked over to the high commander and he waited for him to speak. After a moment, the old Shinigami said, "You will be getting a new member to your squad today. It is one of the ones you died with. He was on the accelerated track for the academy, and he had demonstrated his ability in battle. Sado, please enter."

Chad walked into the meeting room. He looked so goofy in the Shinigami uniform with his Zanpakuto hanging from his side that Ichigo couldn't help but let out a short laugh. "Chad, long time no see!" he called out. Chad just stood there, looking at his spiky haired companion. "I had heard that you had become a captain, but it still shocks me a little to see you in that white coat," he said simply. Ichigo ran up to him and gave him a big bear hug. It almost failed, seeing as he barely could get his arms around Chad's huge body.

"Please don't hug me," Chad said. "What?" Ichigo retorted. "Do you think I'm gay or something?" Chad rubbed his temples. "No," he said. "It's just that your reiatsu is bigger than I remembered and it is a little overwhelming." Ichigo looked surprised, but then he remembered he had killed Kenpachi and reasoned that he had to have quite a bit of reiatsu to be able to fight him, let alone kill him. Ichigo walked towards him and gestured towards the door.

When they were outside, Ichigo asked Chad, "How's Inoue doing?" Chad gave a rare smile and then answered, "She's doing very well. I think that she's going to be able to graduate within a few months. All of our time around you has given us a lot of help getting through the Academy, so we were able to graduate early. I have even mastered Shikai already." Ichigo looked skeptical. "I want to see it," he said.

They walked into an open area where there were few people. "Okay, Chad. I want to see your shikai." Chad drew his zanpakuto and meditated for a moment before saying, "Grind them to dust, Kyokan Ude." What appeared then looked like a cross between a mace and a baseball bat. It had spikes over it, but it wasn't on a chain, and it was about as big as Zangetsu. It was colored the way that his arm was when he used his other power: black and purple. He also saw that his arms had the glove-like appearance that was his "giant's right arm" and "devil's left arm."

Ichigo was thoroughly impressed. "How did you get to Shikai so fast?" he asked. Chad sealed away his zanpakuto and sheathed it. "Urahara. When I was training my power with Renji, during breaks he would tell me about the method to talk to your zanpakuto." Ichigo smiled. "That sandal-hat sure has helped a lot." Chad nodded. "How's Rukia?" Chad asked. Ichigo started to answer. "She's... Oh God, she's spending her free time off with Renji! She's in the real world! Shit!"

He took off, trying to find Yamamoto. He found him in his office. "Yamamoto! Please open the gate to the real world! Renji and Rukia are in danger in the real world!" he cried out. "No," Yamamoto said. "The Vasto Lordes are after you and Soul Society, not Rukia and Renji." Ichigo pleaded, "But if Aizen wanted to get to me he would go after the ones I care for! she's completely vulnerable in the real world without Kisuke and Yoruichi!" "Who's completely vulnerable?" a voice asked behind him. He turned around to see Rukia there, completely fine. "Rukia! I thought that you were in the real world!" Ichigo exclaimed. "No, when Kisuke saw the Vasto Lordes, he went straight to me and Renji and brought us back throught the Senkei gates. He put us in hiding because he knew that Aizen would go after me. Now that the gates are sealed, I have no reason to hide."

Ichigo decided that she probably wouldn't appreciate a hug but he did it anyway, complete with a kiss on the cheek. They both blushed. "Sorry, Rukia. I got carried away. It's just that I couldn't be able to take it if someone else got hurt." He talked to Yamamoto now. "Excuse us." They walked out together. "I heard about the situation. You are going back to Hueco Mundo. I know there isn't enough room for me to go as well. So do me a favor, will you? Please kick ass in my stead."

The days whittled by as Kisuke got the pathway to become more stable. The Ichigo had pulled some strings to make sure that Chad had become his Vice-Captain. This wasn't only because they were close friends, but Chad was strong. Much stronger than he was the last time they went to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo had been consulting the twelfth division and Mayuri about Vasto Lordes.

"Vasto Lordes are basically really strong Menos. It was an adjuchas with unusually strong hunger and reiatsu. They ate millions of hollows and hundreds of thousands of human soulds. They don't have zanpakutos because they are not arrancar, but their clafs are just as powerful and dense as any zanpakuto, including yours, Kurosaki," Mayuri told him. "They are extremely fast and can move faster than shunpo can keep up with them. Thankfully, your Bankai is able to keep up with them, but they will still be faster, and stronger. Their weak points, of course, are their masks. The masks are about four times as difficult to cut as Adjuchas, without adding active defenses. So basically, they will be faster, stronger, tougher, and crueler than anyone they fight."

Ichigo found this information _extremely_ encouraging, but it did help. He knew that they would have no other weapons than their claws, and that their masks would be hard to cut, possibly needing a point blank black Getsuga Tenshou to the face to hurt it. He thought back to his battle with Grimmjow, and how hard he had worked to kil him. He was stronger, but so were the Vasto Lordes. He also wondered how Nel was doing. They hadn't been able to restore her mask, but she could stay in her original form for long periods of time before turning back into a child. Every other Espada was dead.

Ichigo was filling out paperword when he saw sandaled feet enter his office. He looked up to see the hat that he was growing fond of. "Captain Kurosaki!" he said excitedly. "I have found a way to get many people from here to Hueco Mundo." Ichigo put down his brush and laid it beside his ink bottle. "Elaborate, please," he said while folding his hands. "Your hollow mask has reiatsu properties similar to an Arrancar's. That type of reiatsu is much more stable in the pathway than regular shinigami's. So if you just set up "supports" in the pathway with your reiatsu using your hollow mask, many people can go through."

The spiky haired captain stood up and walked over to Kisuke. "How many?" he asked. "About twenty."  
"How much strain will this be on me?"  
"That's the only flaw there is in this plan. You won't be able to put on your mask again for about twelve hours. By then, the Lordes probably would be able to reach you, and you have a significantly less chance of winning without your mask."  
He weighed the odds. "It's a chance we'll have to take. If we don't act soon, Aizen will undoubtedly do something that will turn the odds more to his favor."

Before exiting, Kisuke said one more thing. "You do realize that Aizen's "Revenge" might just be a ploy in a bigger plot, that killing you might just be a distraction?" He left Ichigo in silence to contemplate those words.

The time drew nearer to enter Hueco Mundo again. Ichigo helped Chad train more to prepare him for the coming venture. He also picked the people that he wanted to come with him into the Hollow world. He made sure that his hollow mask could be held long enough to put up supports in the passage and he worked on recovering faster from using his mask. It was hard work, and the battle was coming in only a few days.

When the time came to enter Hueco Mundo, they made their preparations and Kisuke opened the gate. Ichigo put on his mask and got to work reinforcing the pathway with his reiatsu. When he finished, he signaled and he went through. As he entered the desert that was Hueco Mundo, he looked back. The rip in the sky was gone, and no one else was there with him. When he looked forward again, Aizen was standing there, uninjured, and smiling. "Hello, Kurosaki," he said in mocking tones.

"You!" Ichigo exclaimed. Aizen smiled. "How did I know that you were going to come here? Is it that you wished to defeat the Vasto Lorde? Or did you want to kill me?" Ichigo scowled and threw a punch. Aizen leaned back half an inch to dodge it. "It's funny that you came to defeat the Vasto lorde, seeing as they aren't here right now," Aizen said. "Damn it, where are they?" Ichigo demanded. "Oh, I don't know. I think that they said that they were making a trip to Sould Society. It's funny that all five of them had to go. Two would suffice for what I had in mind."

"Damn you, Aizen. You will go to Hell. I swear it." The sky ripped in Hueco mundo, just big enough to fit Kurosaki's body through. A hand reached in and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back into Soul Society. Kisuke was holding him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Damn it, Urahara, you were right. The Vasto Lordes aren't here to kill me. Aizen has something else up his sleeve."

Urahara pointed.

The Vasto Lorde were hacking away at the Sekki stone covering the vault that held the Hougyoku. He counted three. The other two were fending off Shinigami that were trying to stop them. Ichigo shook his head and knew that without his mask, there was no way that he could fight them and win. He could only watch as they lifted up the entire vault, Sekki stone and all, and took it back to Hueco Mundo. This suprised everyone. What did Aizen want with three hundred feet of Sekki stone and the Hougyoku?


	4. Chapter 4: Home of the Lordes

Aizen was pleased with himself. He had been able to get all the materials he needed for his plan in one raid of Soul Society. People would die, but it was all in the name of getting stronger. He had the Lordes move all of the Sekki stone to Las Noches and he began to work on picking the lock to the Hougyoku. The Arrancar plan last time had failed, and he wasn't about to try that again. Instead of using deception to get the Ouken, he would assault Soul Society personally, but he didn't have the power to do so. Not yet. But that is what the Sekki stone was for, along with the Hougyoku. He wouldn't be able to do this without it in a deep sleep. Aizen started gleefully on carving the Sekki Stone into the right shape...

Back at Soul Society, everyone was on edge. All of the captains were especially on edge, because if Aizen attacked, it would be them doing the brunt of the fighting. At a captain's meeting, Urahara had a nerve-fraying explanation of what Aizen could do with the Hougyoku and Sekki stone:

"When the Hougyoku is in a deep sleep, it naturally wants to absorb enormous amounts of reiatsu. It does not have the ability to absorb reiatsu, though. Sekki stone does have this ability. If the two were bound somehow, they could be made into a bomb that could take out many souls and fully awaken the Hougyoku at the same time. He could then turn all of his Vasto Lordes into Espada, and they would only be more powerful. He could easily take out Soul Society if he does this and we cannot stop him."

Each seated member of the Gotei 13 ssave captains and Vice-Captains were stationed in each district of Rukongai with three other people from their squad to order evacuation in the event that the bomb was dropped within the district. All the captains stayed as far away from each other as they could in Sereiti so that if the bomb was dropped there and it penetrated the barrier, no more than one would be killed. Ichigo had plans of his own, though. He gathered up a group of people that included himself, Chad, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Byakuya, that would try to get inside of Hueco Mundo if and when the bomb went off in Soul Society.

Meanwhile, life went on. Orihime finally finished her education in the Academy and was assigned to the fourh squad. Before seeing Unohana, she came to Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-kun, I uh, I wanted to say that I won't slow you down if anything happens..." was the first thing that came out of her mouth. Ichigo refrained himself from whacking her on the head.

"Inoue, you never did slow us down. Ever. And your healing capabilities are more valuable than anything else. Tell you what, Inoue. I have something to tell you about..." Ichigo told her about the raiding party to Hueco Mundo.

She nodded in approval of the plan, and said, "I think that it would be good because we can prevent Aizen from making more Espada. I don't want to see you hurt again, like you did when you fought Grimmjow and Ulquiorra."

Right after she said that, Unohana walked up from behind Inoue and said, "Ah, Orihime. You must've gotten lost and asked for directions. Here I am. Good day Captain Kurosaki." She looked at him with the dreaded scary eyes that the other members of the eleventh division often talked about. It had Ichigo blinking his eyes and having a chill go down his spine.

"Damn. Those eyes are evil," he said to himself.

Renji came to him later that day.

"Kurosaki, I want to go with you," he said simply. Ichigo looked at him and sighed.

"It is not my decision. Talk to Byakuya about that. And if it were up to me, I'd rather have you here to help evacuate the people. So if you need my permission to go with me, it was denied." Renji slammed his fist down on the desk that Ichigo was sitting at.

"Damn it, Kurosaki, you never would have stopped me before," he shouted at him.

"Having a friend die changes you. Maybe not the way you want it to, but it has changed me. More rational, perhaps, or more cautious. Either way, my decision still stands," the orange haired captain said to the red haired man. Renji stormed out and soon Ichigo couldn't feel his reiatsu.

Kisuke predicted that if the bomb were to drop, Aizen could have it ready in about a week. Five days after the raid, preparations for evacuation in all parts of Soul Society were being made. The citizens were warned that they might have to evacuate, but not the reason why. On the sixth day, there was calm. Everything as completed and there was calm before the possible storm. Ichigo slept soundly, knowing that he would need his sleep to be at top performance, or else he wouldn't be able to do much in Hueco Mundo. He reasoned that Renji hadn't listened to him, and he was fine with that. He actually felt like having his company. It was extremely useful to have someone else that was really strong with him. This way, he could eliminate all distractions and focus on Aizen.

Nothing happened the seventh day after the raid for a very long time. When the sun had set all Hell broke loose. The sky ripped and a huge pillar of Sekki stone two hundred and fifty feet high crashed down right over Sereiti. Ichigo had been ready for this moment and his crew dashed for the entrance of the rift.

"I will stay here to heal the wounded!" Orihime shouted as they jumped up to the rip in the sky.

There was a single Adjuchas guarding it, and they cut through easily. They had breached Hueco Mundo. There was a Vasto Lorde right in from of them, the one that had opened the gate. Having being weakened by the Sekki Stone's absorbtion properties, it was defeated rather easily. They suspected it was the weakest one.

Before the pathway closed all the way, a hand, followed by an arm with an Adjutant's Badge on it, then a red head appeared. The portal was closing quickly, and without thinking too much Ichigo reached out and pulled him all the way through.

"Thanks," Renji said. "That bomb's wreaking havoc upon Sereiti. I think that they might have gotten Captain Komamura. Everyone else is safe." Ichigo siged in relief.

They seemed to be in the desert. Las Noches was a lot closer than were they started their last trip to Hueco Mundo. They started running. Their journey was uneventful due to the fact that all the Espada had been killed and so any Arrancar left were acting under their own will and not Aizen's. Moreover, as Renji saw it, anyone that came anywhere near them would be frightened by the enormous ammount of reiatsu that enshrouded their whole team. Most of it was Kurosaki's. he was quite sure that Aizen knew that they were there, and that their being there might be a part of his plan, but he didn't care. They were going to kick the shit out of Aizen and bring back his head. There was no way that he could stop them this time.

Chad knew that this adventure was daring, dangerous, dumb, and daft. But they had to do something. They could not sit idly by as Aizen just dropped a bomb on Soul Society. He knew that the chances of making it back were slim, but he didn't care. Just as long as he died with his friends, and not alone as Rukia had told him to do. "_Remember, Chad, that never to die alone. If you do, who will you entrust your heart to? I learned this lesson from Shiba Kaien, and I think that it is one of the most important ones that you will ever learn."_ Chad didn't think that the lesson was the most important, but it certainly did alleviate his fear of death. He was completely sure that he would not die alone, whatever might happen.

All Ikkaku was thinking was that he would have some good battles coming up. He smiled at the fact and looked at Yumichika. All he was doing was thinking about his beauty. Typical. Byakuya looked like he was lost in thoughts that were deeper than they had to be. In truth, he was thinking about his promise to Hisana to protect Rukia. He had to help kill Aizen, or no one was safe. Together they made the trip to Las Noches, a silent pack of wolves going to kill their prey.

it took about an hour to reach Las Noches from where they started, and they just blasted in again as they had done the first time they breached the fortress. Ichigo could feel enormous reiatsu from inside, not only Vasto Lordes, but Aizen as well. It would seem that Aizen's fighting prowess had not diminished at all over the years. They stepped inside the homemade door cautiously before setting out to find Aizen and the Vasto Lordes. They decided not to split up, seeming that it would be easy to track the ridiculous reiatsu leaking out from all of the insanely strong adversaries that they were going to face.

When they reached a crossroads, they tried to decide what direction the Vasto Lordes' reiatsu was coming from. It was hard to tell; it seemed to come from all directions. They didn't have the time to think about it because a Lorde ran in on them and started hacking away. A second joined the first and they drove the group into different pathways. They then pursued them in the passages. Ichigo collapsed his doorway and the others used Kidou to create a barrier to prevent themselves from being pursued. Ichigo ended up in one passageway with Chad, Yumichika and Ikkaku in another, and Renji and Byakuya in another. Since they had no where to go but forward, that's where they went. the were going away from each other, and almost any strength that came with numbers was lost.

Renji and Byakuya didn't talk much as they ran down the passageway, lit by Byakuya's kidou. It was apparent that they would meet a Vasto Lorde soon, and they would have to work extremely well together to be able to beat it. Their chances were slim, and neither one of them vocalized that fact. They headed down that hallway until they reached a room where there were many pillars. It was a very large room. About a third of the pillars were either sliced or crushed. Renji recognized the room by Ishida's description. This was where he fought against Thunderwitch and won.

There was a Vasto Lorde waiting for them there. It screamed and threw out its reiatsu, trying to intimidate the captain and vice-captain of the sixth squad.

"Here it comes," Renji shouted out.

"Senbonzakura Kagenui," Byakuya said.

He let loose his bankai and he made hundreds of swords appear. He made all of them attack the Lorde at once. It either blocked or dodged most of them. It only got hit by two, and then almost got obliterated by a baboon cannon from Baboon King Zabimaru.

Kuchiki worked on trapping the dangerous hollow while Renji worked on killing it. All it seemed to do was dance around their blades. It almost killed Renji a few times but Kuchiki was able to block it.

Meanwhile, Ikkaku and Yumichika were runningdown their passageway when they came upon a familiar face.

"K- Kenpachi! You're dead! I saw you die!"

Ichigo and Chad were running down their hallway when they came upon the room where Ichigo and the fromer Espada had fought. Standing in the middle of that room was a tall woman with green hair, a maroon stripe under her eyes, and a cracked hollow mask.

"Nel!" Ichigo exclaimed. Nel said nothing. She drew her zapakuto and struck out towards Ichigo.


	5. Chapter 5: Three Battles

"Nel, what are you doing?" Ichigo demanded.

"Get away. Aizen's influence is within me," she replied. She struck out at him again, and he was forced to draw Zangetsu. Chad drew his zanpakuto as well, but kept his distance.

"While we are fighting," Ichigo said, "tell me the capabilities of his Bankai." She slashed at him and threw a cero his way.

"He includes all of the abilities that comes with his shikai," she paused to attack him with a combo. "But it also adds total control over one's body and not just their senses. He can control a limited number of people or hollows with his bankai." Ichigo stepped back.

"Getsuga Tenshou! How many people can he control at once?" Ichigo asked.

"He can control ten," she said while blasting him with ceros. Ichigo bobbed and weaved.

"Chad, see if you can find a way to break the connection," Ichigo called out.

"It's no use," Nel answered before Chad could do anything. "Aizen's bankai is mastered to the level that if he does not will to lose the control over someone, he will not lose it for as long as he is in bankai." Ichigo frowned while dodging her slashes.

"Does that mean that I have to kill you?" he asked her half-heartedly. She nodded before attempting to stab him.

"This explains why he is controlling so many Vasto Lorde," Ichigo said. Nel shook her head.

"No. He is controlling them with empty promises and lies. There were only a few that didn't believe him, and they are the ones that are under his influence."

"How do you get caught in his Bankai?" he asked.

"You have to see him release it, like his shikai. Ichigo, please kill me. I am powerless against Aizen... you have to kill me. I can't live this way."

Renji and Byakuya were in a battle for their lives. Byakuya couldn't block everything with Senbonzakura Kagenui, but Renji could defend himself. Their offensive tactics weren't effective at all. They had no luck with Renji's Baboon Cannon and Byakuya's attacks seemed either to bounce off or be avoided. Byakuya had decided that the only attacks that were powerful enough to do any damage were his final attack and Renji's attacks. Renji's attacks were much to slow to do anything. His final attack would waste all his energy, and if missed would kill them both. He was deep in thought and forgot to block a blow towards Renji. He was slashed in the arm. Byakuya sent a few pedals to Renji to patch up the wound. When he did this, he got an idea.

"Abarai, come here for a minute. I have a plan."

There Kenpachi stood. He had his shark-toothed demon smile on.

"Hey Ikkaku. Yumichika. What are you guys doing here?"

Yumichika stared in awe. Ikkaku scrutinized the figure in front of him. He appeared satisfied until he drew his zanpakuto out and slashed out at him, cutting his chest.

"What was that for?" Kenpachi asked.

Ikkaku turned around, then whipped around again and stabbed him in the stomach. Kenpachi grabbed the sword while it was still inside him.

"When did you figure it out?" he asked in a voice that was no longer Kenpachi's.

"Your hair. The bells. If it were the real Kenpachi, he wouldn't have replaced the bell that he gave to Kurosaki for killing him. Also, when I sliced you the first time, Kenpachi wouldn't have minded. He likes pain." The impostor smiled.

"Aizen-sama, there is no more need for my disguise any more." It appeared that Aizen was listening in, because Kenpachi suddenly turned into a Vasto Lorde. Where Ikkaku had stabbed him was where his hole was. Ikkaku acted quickly, hitting the Lorde in the head with his scabbard.

"That is so ugly!" Yumichika exclaimed. Ikkaku rolled his eys and began battle.

Ichigo had to release Tensa Zangetsu when Nel was forced to release her zanpakuto. He dodged her arrows as she shot them from her centaur body. Chad tried to help, but he saw no opening where he could. Zaraki's bell jingled on the end of Tensa Zangetsu as its owner moved about with inhuman speed. He wasn't trying his hardest, he admitted. He hadn't landed any hits, and those arrows were dangerously close to him. He knew in his head that he had to kill her like he had killed Kenpachi, but his heart stayed his hand. If he could just wait it out until she turned into child form, he could restrain her and come back when he had defeated Aizen. his heart agreed wholeheartedly, but his head didn't deem that practical. He realized that he was leaving himself open while he was having inner debates, and went back to fighting.

"Don't think, just do. Maybe it will turn out the way I want it to," he thought to himself. Wishful thinking.

Byakuya found it hard to convey his plan to Renji because they were under attack constantly. He needed to stop the Vasto lorde from moving, just momentarily, to explain it to Renji.

"Renji!" he called out, "Combine your best Way of Binding Kidou with mine. We need to hold him for about thirty seconds." Renji nodded and began his incantation. Byakuya began his incantation and he switched to a defensive mode. Senbonzakura surrounded him. When they had both finished their incantations, they used both of their binding techniques on the Vasto Lorde. Byakuya gestured Renji over, then whispered into his ear, "Here's the plan..."

Renji backed out of their little two-man huddle and had his idiot smile spread all over his face.

"All right Kuchiki! Let's do it!" Renji shouted out. Even Byakuya's impeccable etiquette couldn't stop him from rolling his eyes.

The Vasto Lorde that Ikkaku fought was stronger than him. He had his bankai released in a relatively short amount of time. After fighting for a long time, he finally asked that Yumichika help him with the Lorde. They fought viciously. Yumichika fought crueler than he might fight anything else. Ikkaku guessed that it was because he thought that it was too ugly to exist. It took a long, long time before Yumichika finally released his zanpakuto. Even then, he didn't use its special abilities.

Even Ikkaku didn't know about the reiatsu draining ability he had. He didn't dare to show it to Ikkaku because he thought that he would be angry about it. Even so, the time to use that ability was approaching rapidly for they were being beaten badly. Yumichika closed his eyes and cursed under his breath before loosing the absorbtion abilities that his zanpakuto. The Lorde looked straight at him, and it laughed.

"Your pitiful ability could never drain me fast enough to have any effect on me," it said. Yumichika cursed wildly and began to release his fury upon this ugly, ugly creature.

Ichigo had several chances to kill Nel, but he could only bring himself to injure her. He couldn't kill her. His heart just softened his blows. The desperation of the situation was soaking into his brain and almost brought him to tears. He thought that he was going to lose another friend by his own hand. That thought slowed down his attacks, and soon it was Ichigo the one being injured.

The pain sharpened his mind and gave an extra burst of heat to the desert that had not quite faded from him. He hacked and slashed relentlessly. When he had opened her guard, he pivoted around to deal the final, decapitating blow, but his sword hit nothing but air. Below him was a face of a child with green hair and a thick streak of maroon below her eyes, filled with tears.

Senbonzakura surrounded Zabimaru. Its unique pink glow covered the whole sword, leaving only a few petals to defend against attacks. Renji gave it a few test swings. The plan was working like a charm. The glowing Zabimaru was faster than it was before by about tenfold. He struck out against the recently freed Vasto Lorde, who couldn't dodge it and instead had to block it. Its arms were bleeding when Renji removed Zabimaru. He smirked, and began to chase the Lorde around the battlefield. If he could land a hit to the torso, it would be finished. He looked over at the royal captain, who was concentrating with all his might to keep all the petals going the direction Zabimaru was. Renji mumbled things to himself about Kuchiki, but went after the Lorde. It wasn't long before he hit it straight in the stomach, stunning it. It skidded to a stop in midair, and Renji brought Zabimaru down upon it with a Baboon cannon. It was obliterated instantly.

Ikkaku had no idea what was going on. Drain? Did Yumichika have some kind of ability to absorb reiatsu? He shook his head to clear his thoughts. he began a flow of reiatsu into his weapon, spinning it until the three-quarters lit dragon on it was on full glow. He quickly joined the fray in a full-power pincer attack that was putting the hollow into a defensive stance. The longer they held out, the easier the battle would become.

"Yumichika. Try to drag out the battle as long as you can while absorbing his reiatsu. That will probably be the only way to defeat him," Ikkaku called out.

Yumichika backed away from the powerful hollow and began running circles around it. Ikkaku did something similar, but he added attacks here and there to try to weaken it further. They went on this way for about ten minutes, and the effects of Yumichika's abilities were beginning to show. The hollow was losing speed and power. Ikkaku actually damaged it when he attacked it now. Yumichika finished up soaking all of the reiatsu left. Ikkaku kicked it down to the ground and he put his huge bankai blade to its neck, and severed it. The gates of Hell appeared and took it away to where no one returned.

Ichigo couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't kill Nel, even though he knew that Aizen still had her under his control. He lowered his blade, and that was when Chad struck. Using the Devil's Left Arm, he delivered a blow to Nel that would have crippled Ichigo. He watched in horror as Chad delivered the final attack with his club.

Nel only looked at Ichigo over Chad's shoulders and said, "Itsygo..." before dissolving and disappearing. Ichigo blinked a few times before rubbing his temples.

"I will kill Aizen," he said firmly. He glanced at Chad before going back to rubbing his temples. "It is possible that Aizen made her say her words so that the true power of his bankai would be hidden. It is only logical that his bankai would be manipulative like he is," he explained. Chad nodded.

"I thought of that as well. It is safe to say that we should stay on guard for his bankai," Chad said. Ichigo furled his eyebrows. "You're the king of understatements, Chad."

The stoic captain only sealed Senbonzakura and sheathed it. Renji was busy doing a victory dance. Byakuya laid a hand on Renji's shoulder.

"Abarai, do not rejoice yet. We are still in danger as long as we are in Hueco Mundo. We don't know how many Vasto Lordes Aizen has, and it is very possible that our previous tactic will not be as effective as it was against this one. In other words, we got lucky." Renji frowned.

"You're just too uptight, Kuchiki. Show some excitement for once."

Just as Renji said that, they both felt Aizen's reiatsu. It was heading straight for Captain Kurosaki.


	6. Chapter 6: Oasis

Ichigo and Chad both felt Aizen's dark reiatsu coming towards them.

"Chad," Ichigo said. "Get away from here." The tone of his voice told Chad that danger was near and he obeyed immediately. Kenpachi's bell tingled, as if Aizen's reiatsu was making it nervous. Ichigo turned to where Aizen was coming from. There was a set of stone stairs. Ichigo could hear Aizen's footsteps on them. They were slow and constant, a rythmic sound. Ichigo could see his feet now. Each step he took was deliberate and careful. As he descended, he saw his zanpakuto, sheathed, followed by his torso, and finally that face. Ichigo hated that face, with its brown eyes and single lock of hair hanging between them. As he descended the last step, he addressed Ichigo.

"Captain Kurosaki. What a surprise seeing you here," he said.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" was Ichigo's reply.

Aizen deflected it with his hand and kept on walking slowly forward. Ichigo got behind Aizen and jabbed at him with Tensa Zangetsu. The gleaming black blade only hit air. Aizen had performed a shunpo a few feet forward to avoid it and kept on walking. Ichgo bared his teeth and put on his mask.

"Stop, Aizen," he said with the wheezy voice that came with his Hollow mask. Aizen paid no attention and continued walking. Ichigo took a swing at him. He just raised his right arm and stopped Tensa Zangestsu in its tracks. He continued to walk towards the exit where Ichigo and Chad had entered.

"I have an appointment with a certain Hougyoku," Aizen said as he almost finished crossing the room. He stopped for a moment and said, "It would be much easier for both of us if I just killed you, so I think that is what I'll do." He turned around and laughed as he saw a red striped hollow mask right in front of his face. With a speed that Ichigo didn't think possible, Aizen drew his zanpakuto and impaled his masked adversary.

It took a moment before the pain sank into his stomach. Then, pain was all he felt. Aizen put his foot on Ichigo's chest and kicked him off of his zanpakuto. He then sheathed it and started walking away. Ichigo spun once before landing face first on the hard, cold stone floor. He couldn't move, and his vision was beginning to blur. His mask crumbled like dried mud and Tensa Zangetsu reverted back into Zangetsu. His vision was getting dark. He knew that he was going to pass out, and if he wasn't treated soon, he would never wake up. Just before falling into unconciousness, he looked to his side. Someone was turning him over. His last sight while awake was a crying raven-haired woman standing above him.

Ichigo found himself in the middle of a desert. He looked around. The ground was dry, flat, and cracked. It was the same shade of brown as his eyes. There was a well a few yards away from him, and he walked over to it. The ground was as hard as solid stone. He felt it as he walked. He looked at the well. It was full of water, and the bucket was in good condition. he lowered it into the water, which was near enough to the surface to be drawn without using a rope. After Ichigo had taken his fill of the thirst quenching water, he dropped the bucket next to the well. He turned around and saw someone. His hand went straight for Zangetsu, then his eyes went wide as he realized who it was.

"Old man Zangetsu!" he said. When he didn't say anything, Ichigo looked around. There was desert for as far as the eye could see. "I see... this is_ my _desert, huh?" Ichigo asked his zanpakuto.

Zangetsu nodded, then said, "Ichigo. There are some things that I think you should see."

Zangetsu turned around and started walking into the middle of the desert. Ichigo ran up behind him.

"Where are you taking me?" Ichigo asked Zangetsu. He remained silent. They just walked together through the desert. Ichigo looked up and saw cloudless blue sky with a blazing sun. When he looked back down, he saw a spot in the distance. Zangetsu had his eyes fixated on it. The continued in the direction of the spot. When they finally got close enough to see what it was, Ichigo gasped. It was an oasis. It had a large pool of water in the middle, with trees and grass covering the whole area. It was very large, about the size of an American football field.

"Zangetsu, what is this?" Ichigo asked.

Zangetsu looked back at him with twinkling eyes, and said, "This is where the majority of your friends live in your heart. See, there is Chad, Inoue, and Uryuu, under that palm tree." Ichigo saw them, talking. He swept his eyes over the green oasis, and he found other people: Renji, Ikkaku, Byakuya, Toushiro, and Kon.

He saw Kenpachi, sitting under the shade of a palm tree with his zanpakuto resting on his shoulder. He didn't have his eyepatch on, and he was smiling. "Kenpachi..." Ichigo said. He realized that Kenpachi still lived, just in his heart. Ichigo looked at Zangetsu, who was looking off into the distance. When Ichigo followed his eyes, he saw a huge spot in the distance. "What the..." Ichigo began.

Zangetsu turned his head. "Do you think that this oasis is the only thing that I wanted to show you?" he asked. Ichigo averted his eyes. While he was looking away, Zangetsu began walking towards the spot in the distance. Ichigo followed behind.

After about five minutes, Zangetsu stopped and turned to make eye contact with Ichigo. "Do you see what it is yet?" he asked. Ichigo scrutinized the large spot. He could faintly make out trees through the haze of the heat.

"Not really," Ichigo confessed. "Just trees."

Zangetsu turned forward and said over his shoulder, "It is so much more than that, you have no idea." The continued walking.

Ichigo realized what it was before long. They came upon a lush jungle, complete with tall trees and plenty of undergrowth. It had rained recently, as drops of water had accumulated on the huge fern leaves. Zangetsu forged through the thick undergrowth, waiting for Ichigo to hack through some branches when they blocked their path. Ichigo didn't ask any questions. He was too intrigued with his environment to talk. They hacked their way through the jungle for about two miles when they finally came upon a clearing. When they walked into it, the transition from shade to sun had Ichigo's irises adjusting so that he could see. In the shadow of the light, he could see a figure standing in front of him.

"Rukia?" Ichigo said in surprise. He turned to Zangetsu.

"This is the deepest and the most well defended part of your heart. Rukia slipped inside without your noticing," Zagetsu explained.

"What does this mean?" asked Ichigo.

Zangetsu sighed. "I don't want to have to spell it out for you," he said. Ichigo turned back to Rukia, and he walked slowly over to her.

"Rukia..." he said. She didn't respond. "Why is she here?" Ichigo asked Zangetsu.

His zanpakuto walked towards them, almost gliding, and he whispered into Ichigo's ear, "Do you not see it? You care for Rukia. You love her. But you do not let yourself live in her heart, so that is why she does not respond."

Ichigo understood. He had always tried to put his feeling for Rukia aside because he had always thought that they were just infatuation. But now, he saw her here, in the deepest reaches of his heart, and he knew that his feelings weren't just infatuation. Zangetsu had backed away from them. Ichigo looked at him now, and he nodded.

Ichigo looked at Rukia for a long time. Her head was tilted downwards, like she was looking at the ground, but her eyes were closed. She was wearing traditional Shinigami clothing. Ichigo took cautious steps towards her. When he was standing directly in front of her, he put his finger on the bottom of her chin and gently lifted her head. She opened her eyes and closed them again when Ichigo's mouth met her's.

Ichigo returned to the outside world with a gasp. There was Rukia, and he remembered seeing her just before Zangetsu took him through his desert. She was leaning over him, the green glow of a healing kidou on top of the wound in his stomach. Her eyes were closed and tearing.

"I told you to kick ass," she said in between sobs. Ichigo lifted up his arm and placed his hand on her shoulder. Her eyes opened to see his face with a serene look on it. "Ichigo," she gasped. He moved his hand from her shoulder to the back of her head and pulled it down to his, and he gave her a long, passionate kiss. She didn't resist.

"Ichigo," she said when they had stopped. He was smiling and his eyes were closed. He stayed like that until Rukia had finished with her healing kidou. As she finished, he sat up and stretched out his sore arms. He realized then that he was naked from the waist up and blushed madly. He stood up and started looking around frantically for his uniform and Haori. When he didn't see it, he turned to Rukia, who handed out both to him. He put them on as quickly as he could. When he was finished he turned around to face Rukia. He then turned his head away and scratched the back of it.

"Uh... sorry," was all that he managed to get out.

She just smiled and said, "No problem."

"Rukia, how did you get here?" Ichigo asked.

"Urahara," she said. "He opened a pathway here, and when he sensed Aizen's reiatsu and yours together, he sent me directly to you." Ichigo nodded and they set off together in the direction that Aizen went.

"How long was I out?" Ichigo asked.

"Only about half an hour. The Hougyoku is at least an hour away from here, so he hasn't gotten to it yet. We've got to hurry!" she told him. They ran quickly, using shunpo when they could. They tracked Aizen by the trail of reiatsu he left behind.

It wasn't long before they exited Las Noches and started following the trail out into the desert. They could feel the reiatsu of Renji, Byakuya, Yumichika, and Ikkaku ahead of them. They had decided to follow Aizen. Ichigo cursed the white sand and crescent moon that was Hueco Mundo and started running just a little bit faster. They ran faster still when they detected that Aizen's reiatsu had stopped moving. They met up with the rest of the raiding party, who had stopped moving. Ichigo could figure out why. The trail of reiatsu stopped here, as if Aizen had just been wiped out of existence.

"Do you know what happened here?" Ichigo asked the group of people.

Byakuya spoke up. "The trail stops here. It might be the effect of the Sekki stone, but we don't know." He caught sight of Rukia, who was previously hiding behind Ichigo. Byakuya's grey eyes widened in surprise for a split second and then returned to their normal, cool state. "Rukia, how did you get here?" he asked nonchalantly. She repeated the story of her arrival and the healing of Ichigo. He noted that she left out the kiss.

After listening to what Rukia had to say, Byakuya went back to concentrating on finding Aizen's reiatsu. Ichigo knew that his ability to sense reiatsu was bad, due to the fact that his own reiatsu was immense and often smothered others'. He stopped for a moment to think about what might have happened to Aizen to make his reiatsu disappear. Ichigo bent down and picked up some of the sand. He ran it through his fingers and caught it in his opposite hand. He took it over to Rukia and showed her the sand.

"Hmm..." she said. She played it around the palm of her hand. "This sand has something about it. It almost seems like it..." Her eyes widened. "Blocks reiatsu!" she finished. Ichigo smiled.

"I knew there was something weird abou the sand," he said with a smirk. Rukia looked back at the sand.

"Urahara would have a field day with this," she muttered. She glanced back at Ichigo. "What the f-" she started, but it was too late.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo called out. Zangetsu was buried in the white sand, and when the beam of reiatsu came out of the end, it blasted a hole into the sand. It also blasted Ichigo into the air.

Ichigo smiled as he was launched into the air. He did a backflip and started falling headfirst into the Forest of the Menos. By this time, the others had noticed what he was doing. Rukia jumped in after Ichigo. Renji just waited a moment, then shrugged and said, "Ah, hell." He ran up to the humongous hole and jumped in as well. Chad was next, followed closely by Ikkaku, then Yumichika, and with a sigh, Byakuya.


	7. Chapter 7: Do You?

Ichigo opened out his arms and legs in a free-fall position that he had seen in movies. Rukia caught up to him, and he took her hand. As they neared the bottom of the forest, Ichigo kicked his feet forward so that he was falling feet-first. He moved Rukia around until he cradled her in his arms, then began to use his reiatsu to walk on air and slow them down. He didn't really walk, but slid. He made it a steep descent, then gradually made it shallower until they were stopped on flat ground. They floated that last couple feet to the real ground, and Ichigo set Rukia down on her feet gently.

"Rukia, about what I did earlier," he started to say. She stopped him by laying a finger on his lips.

"What's done is done," she said. "Besides, you were in a situation that was desparate and you probably just had an emotional outburst."

"Don't say that. Do you think that I don't care for you, Rukia?" he asked. She just looked away. "I thought that I just had a crush on you, but now I know that I am wrong, and I was never so happy to be wrong." He moved towards her and tenderly took her hand. "Listen to me, Rukia. What I say now is no lie, never was a lie and never will be a lie. I love you."

Rukia could feel her cheeks burning. She was flushing madly and could barely stand to make eye contact with Ichigo, but she did anyway. She laid her free hand on his sculpted chest. The chest that she had watched rise and fall while he was sleeping, and the one that had all the scars on it from protecting her. The chest that beated with a heart that was yearning for her. She found the moment rediculous and a little overwhelming, so she averted her eyes and turned her head.

"Ichigo... I never knew that you had such strong feelings for me," was all she could manage to say. Ichigo gently gripped her chin and turned her face to meet his.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Do I what?" she asked back, but she knew very well what.

"Love me?"

They let go of each other as the rest of the raiding party landed nearby. They all stopped themselves in a similar was to Ichigo, except for Chad who did not know how. Ichigo quickly got under him and caught him. He knew that it was a mistake to try and catch him by himself, as he was forced to squat down and fall forwards onto the wide-eyed Chad that he had just dropped. Ichigo popped back up on his feet and brushed off the dust that had accumulated on his Haori from falling down. Now that everyone was here, Ichigo took stock of his surroundings. The Forest of the Menos was as he remembered it; huge trees were scattered around about every seventy yards, and the ground was gray like the sand above. It was dark, and not much could be seen, but they could feel the trail of reiatsu that Aizen had left behind.

They started to follow it as fast as they could, everyone using shunpo as quickly as possible. The ran through several groups of Gillians and defeated them quickly before following the trail again. Aizen was close now- about a half-mile away. They ran and ran through the darkness before finally they came up upon Aizen. He was standing next to the giant pillar of Sekki stone that he had made, and was watching as his last three Vasto Lordes hacked away at the stone to reach the Hougyoku inside. Aizen either didn't sense their reiatsu, which was unlikely, or he didn't care, because he did not move when everyone unsheathed their zanpakuto and released them. Byakuya, Renji, and Ichigo all released their bankai. Aizen suprised everyone by finally saying, "It looks like we have a little bit of interference to deal with."

The Vasto Lordes made a sound that could be described as a screeching and wheezing laugh, then stopped hacking away at the Sekki stone tower. They turned to the group of invaders and started charging at them. Ichigo used his exteme speed to try and bypass them and get straight to Aizen, but the Vasto Lordes were fast enough to pevent that from happening. Rukia started blasting ice from Sode no Shirayuki in an attempt to stop the Vasto Lordes long enough for Ichigo to get a whack at Aizen, but her attacks were too slow and cumbersome to hit them. Renji and Byakuya started setting up the "SenbonZabimaru" that they had used on the last Vasto Lorde. Chad was too slow to attack the Vasto Lordes, so all he could do was go with Ichigo when he tried to break through the Lordes.

When they had finally held the Lordes back long enough for Ichigo and Chad to get through, Ichigo got straight in front of Aizen, who was facing away from him, and he let loose a black Getsuga Tenshou straight at him. Apparently Aizen had predicted this and used shunpo to get out of the way. The Sekki stone tower absorbed the brunt of the attack, but it cracked where the Getsuga Tenshou had hit it. Chad followed up Ichigo's attack. Aizen stepped in front of the crack, and when Chad was inches away from him, disappeared. Chad hit the crack with the full destructive force of his club-like zanpakuto and the cracks widened. Aizen materialized to Ichigo's right, a few feet away from the cracks. Aizen turned around and looked at them while he drew his own zanpakuto and struck the center of the cracks. The Sekki stone fell away in the area where the cracks had formed to reveal the Hougyoku.Ichigo gripped Tensa Zangetsu a little tighter.

"Chad..." he said.

"I know," he replied. Chad stepped out of the way as Ichigo put on his hollow mask. He struck out with Tensa Zangesu, slashing the air where Aizen used to be. Aizen had moved to the top of the Sekki stone tower, and jumped down all thirty feet from the top, pulling the Hougyoku from its groove while falling. He landed on the grey ground and gripped the Hougyoku in his left hand, his zanpakuto in his right. He looked down at it for a while, then he allowed himself a smile. He moved his left hand out in front of him and raised the Hougyoku onto his fingertips. Tendrils of reiatsu began protruding from them and into the Hougyoku. There was a bright, light blue glow. When it stopped, Aizen let his arm and the Hougyoku drop. He smiled brightly at Ichigo.

He held out his hand, and his light blue reiatsu swirled around it. Parts of it solidified and became white, then flowed into his hand. Ichigo's eyes grew ever wider as he saw what Aizen held out in his hand. He winced as Aizen put it on his face and his reiatsu changed. Through the dark eyes of his hollow mask, he watched in horror as Aizen's hollow mask smiled back at him. Slits were the eyeholes of his mask, and there were holes in the cheek of the hollow mask that resembled a cat's scratch. They were long and thin, and they started just below his ears and flowed all the way down to his mouth, which was fixed with ivory teeth that were curled into a wicked smile. It has three small bumps on the forehead that resembled a fawn's developing antlers.

In any other situation, Ichigo might have wondered why he could just put on his hollow mask without an inner struggle, or keep it on for more than ten seconds the first time he had it on, but he couldn't give two shits about it at the moment. All he knew was that Aizen had to be defeated here. Kenpachi's bell could be heard by the others at Ichigo charged madly at the hollowfied Aizen. To his surprise, Aizen did not dodge it, but block it.

"Captain Kurosaki, now I can fight you on equal ground," he said. His voice had become gravelly and screeching at the same time, and reminded Ichigo of insects and filth.

Ichigo struggled against Aizen's incredible strength, trying to break past it and get a hit on the torso. He broke through it after a couple seconds, but he could feel the air move beside him as Aizen moved past him. Ichigo turned around while sending a black Getsuga Tenshou in the direction that he felt Aizen move. Aizen opened up his arms, exposed his chest, and took the Getsuga Tenshou full in the torso. It seemed that the powerful attack was absorbed by hollow Aizen like a cool breeze. Ichigo was stunned at the act. Then he came to his senses and used his extreme speed to fly past Aizen and take a strike at his back. Aizen lifted his zanpakuto and quickly moved it over his shoulder and across his back, blocking Ichigo's lightning strike without looking. He reached behind him with his left hand and grabbed Ichigo by the throat. He threw him over his back and into the forest of the Menos with such incredible force that he broke through three trees.

Ichigo could faintly hear the cries of his comrades that were worried for him almost a hundred yards away, and getting farther. He thought of Rukia, and her pending response to his question. He didn't think anything after that because his head smashed into one of the tremendous trees that grew under the sands of Hueco Mundo. His momentum was transferred into the huge plant, which shook violently from the impact, then broke in two. Ichigo couldn't feel anything but the pain when he hit the second tree, and he almost blacked out when he hit the last one. He hit the ground and rolled to a stop about three hundred yards from the Sekki stone tower and the rest of his group, and he could feel the awesome reiatsu that was Aizen's approaching rapidly.

Ichigo struggled to his feet and felt his hollow mask. He felt a thin crack right below his right eye, flowing from the outside corner of his eye to the bottom of his nose. He stuck Tensa Zangetsu in the ground to use as a kind of cane to support his weak leg muscles. He saw Aizen coming towards him, sprinting like a prisoner escaped out of Hell, with a grey cloud of dust expanding out behind him. Ichigo pulled out Zangetsu and braced himself for the coming attack. Aizen stopped right in front of him, with no hint of being out of breath, and pointed his zanpakuto straight at Ichigo's heart.

"It is a pity that you didn't learn how to use your inner hollow to his full potential, then it would have been an even fight. Ah, well, I don't have need of someone that cannot even reach their full power," he said to the panting Ichigo.

Then he lunged out and stabbed him straight in the heart up to the hilt. Ichigo screamed in agony as he felt the metal enter his heart. Time slowed down for him as Aizen pulled out the blade and began to walk away. It seemed to take a century before Ichigo hit the ground. In his last moments, his vision sharpened and his hearing became acute. Strange, he thought, that he would have sharpened senses before he awaited his death. He knew why in a moment.

"ICHIGO!" Rukia screamed as she ran towards the bleeding shinigami. He didn't speak, but turned his head towards her. As she came up near to him, she could see that his big, brown eyes were losing their twinkle as he neared death. Rukai dropped to her knees and clasped his hand in both of hers. Her heart was pounding, and tears were forming in her eyes.

"I do." she said to him.

The last motion he could muster up was to lift his arm up. She let go of his hand as he moved it, and he carefully caressed her wet face with the back of his fingers.

He dropped his arm and said to her, "Of course you do." then he closed his eyes and his body shuddered. Then he lay still.

Rukia's tears covered Ichigo's face and her own. She whispered to him, "I love you."

The tears flowed from her face uncontrollably as she laid her head on his chest and lamented his death.

Ichigo found himself in his inner world with Zangetsu. He was standing on the side of a skyscraper, as his world was, but the sky was not blue, but of many colors. Sunset was coming.

"Zangetsu?" he said. His zanpakuto glided over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Ichigo, there is a way that you can live," he said to him. "I can save you."

"Zangetsu, you have no healing powers. My heart is punctured, and my brain cells are already beginning to die. How do you propose to save me?"

"I shall explain it to you then, but I have no idea where to start."

"How about from the beginning?" Ichigo suggested.

"Ah, yes. That sounds like a good plan. Very well then. No one has ever achieved Bankai."


	8. Chapter 8: Bankai

"What?"

"I said, no one has ever achieved Bankai," repeated Zangetsu. Ichigo gripped the shikai Zangetsu on his back and drew it in front of it to take a closer look at it.

"Bankai... final release. Are you trying to tell me that Tensa Zangetsu isn't a final release, but just a second one?" Ichigo asked him.

"Yes. The way I am right now in your hand is a Shikai, as you know. I had to tell you my name for you to achieve that. When I am in Tensa Zangetsu, you have achieved Nikai, or second release, by defeating me."

"How do I get Bankai, then?"

"Well, in short, you don't. You can only achieve Bankai if the zanpakuto decides that you can handle their full power. Also, the wielder has to have exceptionally high levels of reiatsu to be able to handle the counteracting reiatsu of their Bankai as it is released. They also have to had achieved Nikai. No zanpakuto has granted Bankai to a Shinigami yet because the sheer power of a true Bankai is far beyond that of Nikai. Its destructive power is more than tenfold that of Tensa Zangetsu and your Hollow mask. Do you see why no zanpakuto has granted this power to a shinigami?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said with a sceptical face.

"Even if the shinigami is on the verge of death, we don't grant the power to them. I have decided differently, though. Aizen is a Vaizard, and without your presence in Hueco Mundo, there is nothing stopping him from turning his Vasto Lordes into Arrancar. If that happens, then I fear that Soul Society will be attacked and razed, and the real world will be in peril because of that."

"How is this going to save me?"

"Ah, yes, that. When one enters true Bankai, their body is restored to peak physical condition and their senses are sharper. Their zanpakuto takes on its true form."

"Alright. Let's do it!"

"Hold on, Ichigo. I do not grant this power lightly. I want you to take a vow first. Do you vow never to use Bankai after this moment unless absolutely necessary?" Zangetsu asked. Ichigo nodded.

"One other thing. If you were to don your Hollow mask while in Bankai, it is very possible that your powers will be at least doubled for a limited amount of time before your own reiatsu cripples you, however not permanently. Be careful with Bankai. When I send you back to the outside world, you must release Bankai yourself. If you don't defeat Aizen now, then no one will."

* * *

Aizen did not take action when Kuchiki Rukia ran to Captain Kurosaki. He didn't even turn around when he heard her sobs over his body. He just walked back towards the Sekki stone tower to kill the people that were impairing him from turning his Vasto Lordes into Arrancar, then use the fully awakened Hougyoku to turn all of the Vasto Lordes and Adjuchas into Arrancar as he could. When a small perk in the dying reiatsu of Captain Kurosaki appeared, he hesitated for a moment, then dismissed it.

Rukia was still crying on Ichigo's chest when all of a sudden, it expanded in a small breath. She opened her eyes, then moved her ear over Ichigo's mouth in case he had one last thing to say to her.

"Ban... kai."

To say the least, that was not what she was expecting him to say. But before the thought even occured in her brain, a sudden burst of reiatsu from Ichigo exploded outward. It was so dense that Rukia was actually thrown away from him as the dense spirit power flowed around and through him. It surrounded him, then engulfed him.

Ichigo could feel his heart knitting back together, then the wonderful and rhythmic thump sound it made. He couldn't see anything through his own reiatsu, which he noted was well above incredible. Then his reiatsu changed into something else, something that he had never experienced before. The red outline and black fill inverted, and then he was released from the cocoon of his own reiatsu.

He looked into his right hand where Tensa Zangetsu used to be. It was replaced by his Bankai, which resembled his inner hollow's Nikai. Tensa Zangetsu's colors were inverted; the blade was white and the spots on the handle were blue. He noticed that the chain on the end of it wasn't broken any longer, but was about three feet long and attached to what could be described as a keychain with a white crescent moon on it. The blade itself was as wide as Tensa Zangetsu, but it was two feet longer. The handleguard was white like the blade, and it was in the shape of a full moon with intricate sculpting of the moon's craters on it.

He looked at himself, and he was no longer in his Nikai clothing. He was wearing a deep red kimono and a black Haori over it. His belt was also black. Gauntlets covered his forearms. They were layered steel, and were black and laced with red.

He took a test swing with his Bankai. Sou Zangetsu. Moon-destroying fang. It was as light as a feather to him, and he could swing it insanely fast.

"Getsuga Tenshou," he said tentatively. A red Getsuga Tenshou erupted from the tip of the blade and flew out into the Forest of the Menos, taking down several hundred trees with its wide and long range.

Ichigo looked towards Aizen. With his improved sight, he could see that his mask was off, and that he was frowning- from two hundred yards away. Ichigo could feel Aizen's reiatsu shift as he prepared to put on his mask. Ichigo was next to Aizen instantly and chopped off the hand that was trying to form the mask. Aizen gasped in surprise and turned to where Ichigo stood.

"How many times do I have to kill you?" he said cooly.

"You just got your fucking hand chopped off, dude."

"Would this be the third?"

"How do you bear the pain?"

"I will decaptitate you this time to make sure you're dead."

"You would do that just so that you can use it to give yourself head, seeing as you don't have a hand to whack off with now."

Aizen drew his zanpakuto with his remaining hand and pointed it towards Ichigo.

"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu," he said. Ichigo closed his eyes to stop himself from falling under complete hypnosis. "Your petty insults are growing tiresome. I shall end this battle quickly. Bankai."

"Hah. You know nothing of your zanpakuto, Aizen," Ichigo said. He opened his eyes and slashed out with Sou Zangetsu. Aizen didn't have enough time to release his Nikai, and Ichigo used this to his advantage. He ran circles around Aizen, making himself appear in several places at once as he ran at half-speed. Aizen appeared stunned at the high speed of Ichigo, and he used his other hand to put on his Hollow Mask.

Ichigo let him put on his hollow mask. He didn't let him do anything else, though. He unloaded red Getsuga Tenshous at him while running around, surrounding him with the red glow. Ichigo stopped a moment to see what hapened to Aizen. When the dust cleared from Ichigo's attacks, Aizen could be seen. He had a deep gash in his right shoulder and he was panting heavily. He held out in his hand what must've been his Nikai. It looked like an English medieval sword. It was double-edged with an intricate handle. It was filligreed with gold, and the guard was made out of solid diamond. The blade itself has properties like a mirror; Ichigo could see his reflection. The clarity of his own image was amazing.

"Kyoka Suigetsu Kagami," he panted out. Ichigo sent another Getsuga Tenshou his way to see how Aizen had blocked them. Aizen threw out his Nikai against it and Ichigo watched in amazement as it flew upwards and through the sand into the night sky.

Without warning, Aizen sprinted off towards the Sekki stone tower. Ichigo admitted that Aizen was pretty fast, but Ichigo was faster. He got in front of Aizen, and he punched him in the face. Aizen went flying backwards, but he disappeared and reappeared a few feet in behind Ichigo.

"Dammit, illusions!" Ichigo cursed. He chased after Aizen. They neared the tower when Ichigo let loose another blast from Sou Zangetsu. It cleaved the tower in two down its length, and continued well beyond that. However, the attack had missed its target, as Aizen had avoided it by a hair's breadth. Aizen dove and grabbed the Hougyoku, then activated it and threw it towards the still-fighting Vasto Lordes. They were transformed into Arrancar immediately. There were two men and one woman that appeared from the Vasto Lordes. The woman had white hair and three slim white lines running across her face. One of the men had blue hair, like Grimmjow's but darker, and a curved blue line running from his cheekbone across the bridge of his nose to the other cheekbone. The other man had a likeness to Aizen himself. He had short, dark brown hair, with symetrical lines the color of his hair running down his eyes like Ulquiorra.

"Behold, my finest Espada yet!" Aizen cried out in excitement. In his glee, he didn't see Ichigo come up behind him, and the split second before he died, he could feel the long white blade severing his head from the rest of his body. Aizen's head fell at Ichigo's feet, eyes wide in surprise. His body fell soon after his head did.

Ichigo expected the bleeding mess that he had made to disappear from his sight to be replaced by a grinning Aizen Sousuke, but it didn't happen. He looked at the Arrancar that Aizen had made. Their reiatsu was strong, but not as strong as Ichigo was right now. However, Ichigo was outnumbered three to one. He sighed and almost thought about it- almost- and put on his Hollow Mask.

Ichigo could feel the enormous pressure that his own reiatsu was putting on his body. He attacked the Arrancar a little, to show that he was a threat, then led them through the Forest of the Menos away from his friends so that they wouldn't be hurt by the upcoming battle.

He sent out a Getsuga Tenshou without saying anything. The Arrancar dodged it and went to attack Ichigo with their bare hands. When the blue haired Arrancar had his arm chopped off, the rest drew their zanpakutos. They attacked Ichigo in rapid-fire fashion. They worked extremely well together, but Ichigo was still stronger than them. He could move faster and his attacks were stronger.

The only disadvantage Ichigo had was that he was on a timer. His mask was a bomb that's fuse had been lit, but he had no idea how long the fuse was. He could feel the weight of his own power pushing down on him, and it was crippling. Ichigo guessed that he could withstand an hour in this form, then he wouldn't be able to do anything for a while. He would be completely paralyzed.

Ichigo hit the blue haired Arrancar with a Getsuga Tenshou. It sliced them across the torso and ripped all the way through them. The gates of hell appeared and took away the Arrancar.

Ichigo turned his attention to the other two Arrancar. They had released their Zanpakutos.

The brown haired man had become what looked like a big raven. It had talons that were a few feet long and he could fly around. His mask resembled a beak, and he screamed. the high-pitched sound hurt Ichigo's fine-tuned ears, but did not distract him from his task. The woman has also released. She was in the form of a lion. She roared out at Ichigo, and her mask opened up to reveal teeth that were four inches long. They both came at Ichigo at once. He avoided their attack and he came up behind them. He tooka swing at the raven, but it lifted up its hind talon and blocked his attack.

They fought for about forty minutes before Ichigo could finally take out the raven with a slash through its mask. It too disappeared into Hell. It was finally one on one with the last Arrancar. If he could just kill it, he could take off his mask without any consequences. However, it did no turn out that way.

It trapped Ichigo underneath it with its claws and prepared to bite him. Ichigo flipped Sou Zangetsu around in his hand so that he was holding it in a reverse grip. He blasted it off of him with a red Getsuga Tenshou, and it was hurt. It looked up as Ichigo came to deliver the final blow to the last Arrancar, but all of a sudden, he felt his arm and leg muscles contract, and he couldn't move them. He fell over in a fetal position, powerless against his own reiatsu. His mask shattered and he struggled fruitlessly against his own paralysis. The lion growled and pounced upon Ichigo.


	9. Chapter 9: All the Time in the World

Ichigo couldn't even close his eyes because of his paralysis. He watched, as if in slow motion, as it closed in on him, claws gleaming. He focused on the gleaming claws. They shone with a gray light, as is was beneath the sands of Hueco Mundo. The gleam suddenly turned pink. Ichigo would have furled his brows in confusion, but he didn't have to wait long to figure out what was happening. Hundreds of thousands of small petals blindsided the Arrancar as it tried to kill Ichigo.

Byakuya walked slowly towards Ichigo as his petals pummeled the Arrancar. Following behind him were Renji, Chad, Yumichika, Ikkaku, and finally Rukia. She fired a blast of ice from her zanpakuto and froze the lion. Byakuya reinforced the structure with Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. It broke through the side of the ice to be met with a Baboon Cannon from Renji. It went flying into the air. Chad performed a Shunpo to get up in the air right next to it and punch it down to the ground with his Devil's Left Arm, then brought down Kyokan Ude right in its midsection. It screamed in pain, then the gates of Hell opened up once more for the last Arrancar.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said. "Are you all right?"

"I ant oof," He said to her.

"Excuse me?"

"I ant oof!" Ichigo said angrily.

"He can't move," Renji said.

"We should get back to Soul Society," Ikkaku said. Byakuya nodded and started to pull something out of his kimono when Ichigo spoke up.

"Et ee Ougoku," he said. Renji nodded and ran off back to the remnants of the tower. He returned with the Hougyoku a short time later. Byakuya pulled out something that looked like a whistle.

"This is something that Kisuke gave me to signal when he should open up a portal back to Soul Society. If I just press this button and put some of my reiatsu into it, then..." He did what he was describing. A couple seconds later a rip opened up right in front of them. Chad walked over to Ichigo and just picked him up and started walking into the rift. Rukia got sight of Sou Zangetsu when he was being carried.

"What is that?" she asked as they were about to walk through.

"Layta please," Ichigo tried to say. Chad walked through the rift. The rest of the group followed quickly.

They ended back up in Rukongai. They all set off at a run to Sereiti and upon reaching it, they were met by a healing team from the fourth division. They ushered the group into their facilities, and they separated Ichigo from Chad and took him into an operating room. Captain Unohana was ready for him. She looked surprised to see him totally paralyzed, but she soon got to work.

Nothing they did could help Ichigo much. They wanted to know how he had gotten into the state that he was but he couldn't explain due to the length of the explanation it would take and his current inability to talk.

"I can't do anything for you if you can't tell us what happened to you. I will just have to wait until you get enough control over your body to speak again," Unohana finally said.

Ichigo was itching to talk to Rukia, but he couldn't do it yet. All he could do was sleep through the night. When he awoke he found that his mouth could move enough to make intelligible sentences.

"UNOHANA!" He yelled out after a few minutes. She came running in and relaxed when she saw nothing had happened.

"I can talk now." Ichigo said dumbly.

"I gathered that a few seconds ago, thank you," she replied. "Now, what did you do to yourself?"

"Well, you asked for it..."

* * *

Unohana had her eyebrows raised in scepticism.

"I believe I know what to do now. I should check your head for concussions."

"No, no. I assure you that everything that I have told you is real and has happened. See my zanpakuto that you put beside me here? Check the records, if you haven't seen it yourself. My Nikai is black, and has a broken chain. I would say that the way that it is in now it is not black and the chain is not broken."

"Okay, okay. I will go check with Urahara and Mayuri."

She returned fifteen minutes later with the shop owner and the captain. Urahara was instantly all eyes on Sou Zangetsu. Mayuri stood there with a dumb look on his face as he saw the zanpakuto.

"What is that?" he asked.

"My Bankai," Ichigo answered.

Urahara walked over to the side table where Sou Zangetsu was. He looked at it, then picked it up. He was studying the hilt when Ichigo interupted his study.

"Put that down, Sandal-Hat. You might hurt someone," Ichigo said.

"What makes you think that?" He said. Ichigo looked down his body to where the blade was pointing at his crotch.

* * *

Later that day, Rukia came into the room. She sat down next to Ichigo's bed. Ichigo worked as hard as he could to overcome his paralysis- just a little bit- and slowly opened his hand. Rukia put hers in his, and they stayed like that for a long, long time.

"Ichigo, what did you do?" she finally said.

Ichigo sighed and said, "I got lucky. Zangetsu knew that it was necessary for me to defeat Aizen and the Arrancar, so he granted me a power that no other shinigami or Hollow has ever gotten. It was Bankai."

"But you have already achieved Bankai," She said.

"No, that was not Bankai. Byakuya hasn't achieved Bankai, nor Renji or Ikkaku, or any of the captains, for that matter."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"You don't have to, Rukia," he said with a smile. "All you have to understand is that because of that, we can still be together. You have no idea how glad I was when I was revived."

"Then you must've had no idea how sad I was when I thought that you had died."

"Ha, good point. Listen, Rukia. When everything is cleaned up here and all is fine again, could we spend time together, alone?" He asked her.

"All the time in the world."

* * *

By the end of the week, Ichigo had control over his whole body. He had been asked several times by both Urahara and Mayuri to release Sou Zangetsu for them to analyze, but every time Ichigo refused.

"Zangetsu made me promise not to use it unless absolutely necessary. So I shall never, _ever_ use it again unless I deem it to be absolutely necessary," was his reply to every time he was asked to use it. Eventually, they gave up.

There was one thing left for Ichigo to do before he deemed himself freed from this nightmare that occured over the last two weeks.

Ichigo sat in his eleventh division office with Zangetsu laid out in front of him, eyes closed.

"Zangetsu, is it necessary to do this last thing?" Ichigo asked his zanpakuto.

"I can't stop you from using Bankai anymore, but if you want my opinion, I would say that yes, it is necessary."

"Thank you. Not just for Bankai, but for everything. For helping me defeat Aizen and the Arrancar, for giving me the ability to see Rukia again. For showing me what she really means to me."

Ichigo set out to the new vault that held the Hougyoku once again. When he reached it, he ordered the second division guards to stand clear. He took his time getting through all the locks and seals that had been placed on the entrance to the vault. He descended the last fifty stairs to the core of the vault. The Hougyoku was on a pedestal in the middle of a large cubic room. He drew Zangetsu as he descended the last step.

"Bankai," he said. Sou Zangetsu formed in his hand as his clothes morphed into his Bankai clothing. He stepped towards the pedastal with Sou Zangetsu's end pointing to the ground on angle, then he pulled it up over his head.

"What are you doing?" Urahara's voice said behind him. "You can't destroy it. Believe me, I tried."

Ichigo brought down Sou Zangetsu against the Hougyoku with all of his strength. The pedestal collapsed from the force, and cracks formed all around the room. he sealed away Sou Zangetsu to shikai and he slung it across his back. He walked past Urahara and up the stairs. Curious, Urahara came up to the Hougyoku. It was still in one piece. He shook his head and picked it up. His eyes widened to be as large as the full moon when it crumbled in his hand.

As Ichigo exited the vault, Rukia came running up to him.

"Ichigo! I felt your reiatsu bellow out and I was worried so I-"

He kissed her passionately and took her hand.

"I said that when all things were cleaned up, we should spend some time together. Let's go."

**If you like my writing style, check out my original story, Mortal Man, on w w w . f i c t i o n p r e s s . c o m under the pen name nathan hale.**


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